Destruction and Beyond

On July 7, 2023, the United States destroyed the last of its declared chemical weapons stockpile, marking the elimination of 100 percent of the world's declared chemical weapons. The process was overseen by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and faced delays due to technical challenges and local opposition to incineration methods at sites like the Pueblo Chemical Depot and Blue Grass Army Depot. Despite this milestone, the report highlights ongoing noncompliance by Burma, Iran, Russia, and Syria, and the use of Novichok nerve agents. It argues that the U.S. must retain its scientific and technical countering-WMD expertise to assist in treaty verification and respond to future contingencies, especially as other nonproliferation frameworks, such as the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention and the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, face increasing fragility.

• The United States completed the destruction of its declared chemical weapons stockpile on July 7, 2023, which resulted in the elimination of all declared chemical weapons stockpiles globally.
• The U.S. destruction process encountered delays caused by technical difficulties with certain ammunition and opposition from civil society groups regarding incineration at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky and the U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado.
• The U.S. State Department's 2023 annual report identifies Burma, Iran, Russia, and Syria as being in noncompliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).
• Russia is cited for noncompliance due to the use of Novichok nerve agents in the 2018 attack in Salisbury, U.K., and the 2020 poisoning of Alexei Navalny.
• The report argues that the U.S. must maintain its intellectual and technical foundations for countering chemical warfare agents to support the OPCW's verification network and respond to potential future threats from rogue nations or terrorist organizations.
• Broader nonproliferation efforts are described as fragile, noting that the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC) lacks a strong verification regime and the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) is strained by the expansion of nuclear stockpiles in countries like North Korea, Pakistan, and India.

APA

Weber, A., Üzümcü, A., Moulton, J., Parthemore, C., & Green, S. (2023). Destruction and Beyond. The Council on Strategic Risks. https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2023/11/21/destruction-and-beyond/

Chicago

Weber, Andy, Ahmet Üzümcü, John Moulton, Christine Parthemore, and Shannon Green. Destruction and Beyond. The Council on Strategic Risks, 2023. https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2023/11/21/destruction-and-beyond/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Weber |first1=Andy |last2=Üzümcü |first2=Ahmet |last3=Moulton |first3=John |last4=Parthemore |first4=Christine |last5=Green |first5=Shannon |title=Destruction and Beyond |publisher=The Council on Strategic Risks |date=21 November 2023 |url=https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2023/11/21/destruction-and-beyond/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{weber2023destruction, author = {Weber, Andy and Üzümcü, Ahmet and Moulton, John and Parthemore, Christine and Green, Shannon}, title = {{Destruction and Beyond}}, institution = {The Council on Strategic Risks}, year = {2023}, month = nov, url = {https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2023/11/21/destruction-and-beyond/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }